Feeding mechanism for furnaces.



J. 'TBDELL PEBDING MBHANISM FOR FURNAGBS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3,1912.

1,088,379. Patented Feb. 24,1914..

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J. TEDELL. FEEDING MBCHANISM FOR PURNAGES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1912. 1,088,379.

Patented Feb. 24,1914,-

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J. TEDELL. FEEDING MBGHANISM FOR. PU-RNAGES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1912.

Patented Feb.24,1914.

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By y L 't Hilfs/5T J. TEDELL. FBEDING MECHANISM FOR FURNAGES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE a, 1912.

Patented 11111.24', 1914N 4 SHEBTSBHEET 4.

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" fils UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

JOI-IN TEDELL, OF ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ROCK ISLAND `PLOWCOMPANY, OF ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS,A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

FEEDING MEGHANISM FOB FU'BNACES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

application led J une 3, 1912. Serial No. 701,224.

' specification.

My invention relates to a continuous feed for furnaces, and relates moreparticularly to means whereby bars may be fed step by step through afurnace at the will of the operator.

I My invention relates more particularly to a furnace for heating metalbars preparatory to forging, and has been designed with particularreference to treatment of plow beams whereby they are properly heatedbefore' being subjected to'a bulldozer'for bending them into propershape.

These and other objects of my invention will be more clearly understoodby reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar referencecharacters refer to similar parts,'and in which- Figure 1 is a frontviewv of a furnace comprising my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional viewtaken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is aplan view. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views. 'Fig 7 is a sectional Viewtaken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

As illustrated, I have shown a furnace comprising a heating chamberconsisting of an upper section 11, end walls 12 and 13, and side walls14,' 14. The end walls terminate a short distance above the work support16, which extends through the furnace and for a distance to the rearthereof, so as to provide suitable space for feeding the bars onto thissupport. In -order to facilitate this feeding operation the rear end ofthis work support is inclined upwardly, so that the bars can be placedupon this inclined portion and fed by gravity onto the horizontalportion in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described. Situatedbelow this work support there is a cradle 17 which is adapted to beraised and lowered in order to advance the bars step byv step along thework support. This cradle comprises a pair of longitudinally extendingsupporting bars 41-42 which are U-shaped in cross-section, .as

shown in Fig. 7, so that they fit over the frame bars 4,3, which framebars are connected at their opposite ends by the tie rods 14. Near theiropposite ends these support-v ing bars are provided with downwardlyextending projections 18 and 20, while extending downwardly from theframe bars are a corresponding pair of supporting arms 115, 46, whicharms are connected at their lower ends to the crank arm .19. Rigidlyconnected to these supporting arms at a distance slightly below thecradle, there are a pair of longitudinally extending braces 39 supportedby means of ythe angular braces 40. Adapted to slide upon each of theselongitudinal braces 39 there are apair of slotted wedges the shape ofwhich being clearly shown in Fig. 6. Each pair of these wedges isconnected together by means of a turn.

buckle 38," and the inclined faces ,iT-4.8 of

these wedges are adapted to bear beneath the lower edge of thedownwardly extending portions 1S and 19 of the cradle, which extensionsare oppositely beveled. The supporting arms i5- 46 pass through the slotwithin these wedges, while' a pair of pins 49 and 50 are provided uponopposite sides of the `frame bars 43 to prevent the cradle from havingany longitudinal movement .upon

this frame. By this construction it will be seen that by moving thewedges by means 0f the turnbuckle the top of the cradle can be raised orlowered with respect to the frame,

and therefore with respect' to the feed support 16. It will alsobenoticed that I provide a turnbuckle and pair of wedges upon each sideof this cradle, so that the opposite sides can be adjusted independentlyfor a purpose which will be more fully pointed out hereinafter.

The opposite vends of the crank and 21 are connected to the transverselyextending shafts 22 and 23. Upon the end 'of each of these shafts thereis a bevel gear 24 which meshes with the corresponding gear 25 locatedupon the longitudinally extending shaft 26. Power is supplied to thisshaft by means of the motor 27 which operates through the medium of aworm gear 28, and is controlled by means ofthe clutch 29 operated by thecontrolling lever 30. A pair of upright supports 31--32 are providedbeneath thiscradle, and upon the upper 'part' of the support 21 ispivoted the arm 33 which is provided with a hook-shaped end portion 3 4adapted to grip beneath the transverse shaft 22. Uponthe opposite end ofthis arm 33 there is a counterweight 35. A

arms 19 lio similar pivoted arm ,and counterweight is mounted on theupper portion of the stand- -ard 32, and coperates with the transverseshaft, 33. These counterweights are so adju tedl ,that theycounterbalance the weight f l.he cradle 17 so as to lessen the amount ofpower required. to operate the same.

Upon opposite ends of the heat/fing chamber l provide sliding doors 51and 52 which can be raised by means of the/'levers 53 54, the weight ofthese doors being counterbalanced by the counterweights 55 and 56. Thesedoors provide...means for closing the ends of the heating chamber inorder to enable the same to become initially heated more rapidly, but inthe operation of the devicethey are raised 'a suiicient distance topermit the work to travel through the heating chamber unimpeded. Anysuitable means may be employed for 'heating this chamber, but I haveshown gas-burners 57 j and 58 which are supplied by means of the air andgas pipes '59-l-60, allof well known` construction.

. Having now described the construction of my furnace I will now proceedto describe its operation. f

The burners are first lighted, and then in order to more rapidly heatthe heating chamber the doors 51 and 52 are first lowered, sov as toclose the openings in the opposite endofthe heating chamber. When thischamber has become sufficiently heated, the doors are raised slightly topermitthe work to pass` through and likewise'to permit.V the escape ofthe gases of combustion through these I openings. vThe bars to bevheated are then fed upon the rear longitudinal and inclined portions ofthe work 16 and the handle 30 then operated to throw in the. clutch 29,

',-whereby the power is appliedtoraise and' lower the cradle 17 by meansof the connections heretofore described. The cradlel is @adjusted bymeans of the turnbuckles, so

that in its raised position'th cradle projects slightly above the worksupport, .so that it picks up the bars placed upon thls support andcarriestheln forward a short distance,

as is clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. vOn account of the rotarymovement of the vcrank arms 19 and 20, each point'upon the upper surfaceof this cradle has a similar u rotary' movement, so that as -thiscrad'le comes in contact withthe bars or beams onl `the work supportthese beams are raised ,slightly and carried 'forward a short dis tance.By means of the adjustment whereby this cradle can bera-ised or loweredwith respect to the crank arm, the distance which this cradle risesabove the work support can be readily determinedl It is preferably soadjusted that in veach 'revolution of the 'crankl arm the beams upon thework support are carried forward the-thickness of a single beam,I4`.urthermore, v.by having both sidesA Iof. the work support adjustableindependy chamber so that this heating chamber is substantially filled,the clutch can then be thrown out in order to allow sufiicient time forthese bars to become properly heated. After this has been accomplishedand when `the perator wishes to take a beam orv bar out of the furnace,he merely throws in the 4clutch to allow the cradle to be raised andlowered a single time, whereby the bars are all pushed forward so that abar is forced out onto the extension 61, from which place yitcan bereadilygripped by suitable tongs or the like and carried to a forgeorbulldozer to be bent into the required shape. When he wishesI anotherbeam, he has but to throw in his clutch and another beam is brought outupon the extension 61. While .this machine is in operation the beams aresimply fed upon the inclined portion of the support 16,l .and as thebeams upon the horizontal por- .tion are carried forward, the force ofgravity is suiicient to carry these beams down` the inclined portiononto the horizontal portion where they are adapted to be engagedA by thecradle.

It will thus be seen that I have devised a very simpleand elicient meansfor continuously feeding bars or beams through a furnace, and in whichit is simply necessary to place the beams upon this inclined portion ofthe work support and thereafter the feeding is entirely'auto'matic.

While I have shown one specific-embodi- I ment of my invention, itwilljbe understood that many modifications and equivalents will readilysuggest themselves to anyone cradle Iabove said work support, saidcradle having a combined upward and forward movement, whereby thematerial to be treated is raised from said support and moved forward bysaid cradle. l

2. In a furnace, a .feeding mechanism, a work support, a cradle mounted'below said support, and adapted to be raised above said means foradjusting the position of said cradle withrespect yto Vsaid support.

3. In a furnace, a feeding Imechanism. a

vsupport anduto be moved-"forwardly for v --movin'gsaidlx'naterial along-the same, andA 110 skilled in the art, and I therefore do not i worksupport, a cradle mounted below said support, and adapted to be raisedabove said support and to be moved forwardly for moving said materialalong the same, and means for independently adjusting the opposite sidesof said cradle with respect to said support, whereby the material is fedevenlv along said support.

4. ln a furnace, a Work support, a frame mounted below said support, acradle adjnstnbly mounted upon said frame, a crank arm for oscillatinosaid frame and cradle, whereby said crad e has an upward and forwardmovement, whereby the movement of said cradle causes the work to betreated 0 be moved along said work support step f ste D5. Iii a furnace,a feeding mechanism comrising a work support, a frame mounted lielowsaid support, a cradle mounted upon said frame, a pair of wedges for suporting said cradle whereby it may be a Justthe Sallie forward, andcounterweights associated with said cradle, so as to counterbalance theweight of the same.

Signed by me at Rock Island, Illinois, this 29th day of May 1912.

JOHN TEDELL.

Witnesses:

C. E. Sr-mnrn, GEO. H. SHnLnoN.

Copies of this patent muy be obtained for nve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

